Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Looking for death record for Catherine McCourt after 1901....I have found her on 1901 cencus at the little sisters of the poor in toxteth park, liverpool....but can not find her after that...and to where can I write and get a copies of liverpool death/marriage cert etc.

Regards

Meeg

For anybody wishing to assist, the 1901 census gives Catherine McCourt as a Widow aged 81 born Ireland, Inmate of the St Augustine's Home in Aigburth Road, Toxteth Park. RG13; Piece: 3442; Folio: 82; Page: 5.

A possible death entry for her is:

Catherine McCourt Q2 1908 Toxteth Park 8b 138 age approximately 84.

I know this isn't an exact match for age with the 1901 census but either entry could have been a guess by the person providing the details.

Certificates, using the reference I gave above, can be obtained online at www.gro.gov.uk at a cost of £9.25.

As for a marriage certificate, you would need to check the indexes, I suspect both in England and Ireland. Do you have a birth certificate of one of her children as this would give her maiden name if registration was after 1845 Ireland or 1837 England? The indexes for Ireland are now available at the Family Search Pilot Site Birth certificates for England are available at the address I gave above, and at the GRO Ireland

Is this the Catherine McCourt that was transcribed as Catherine Mecurt on the 1881 Census at 34 Denison Street? If so she was the Godmother of my Grandad's aunty. My Holland people were her neighbours at 36a Denison Street.

Catherine's daughter's married name was Mary Cane (or Kane or Kain or Cain) she was living with her at 34 Denison Street. Mary's marriage to James Kain is on Liverpool History Projects website they married at St Marys Highfield Street in 1879. Here is the GRO index if you want the certificate:-

James Cain
Mary McCourt
Quarter: Jan/Feb/Mar
Year: 1879
District: Liverpool
Volume: 8b
Page: 326

This marriage certificate should include Catherine's husband's name as the father of the bride and his occupation. Catherine might have married in Ireland and it might have been before civil registration started in Ireland if this is the case then the record might only exist amongst the church records.


Blue

Thank you both.....

the 1908 death record could be right, as the women on this side of the family live to ripe old age (my Mum is 88yrs next week), Catherine McCourt's maiden name was Adrien or Adrian.....I am guessing that Catherine & Owen McCourt came over to Liverpool due to the potatoe plight in Ireland (just a maybe)....Daughter Mary lived till 92yrs...
would there be a record of Catherine & Owen coming over to Liverpool..

I am having trouble finding any info in Ireland.....is this the norm...I was told alot of records in Ireland have been destroyed..??

Regards
Meeg

I'm sorry to say that there are no censuses available prior to the 1901 cne 1911 which are both available online and have been made so freely because of the lack of earlier documentation.

You need to try to gather a picture of Catherine's children and their dates of birth and search the indexes shortly before the eldest one's date. I know it's not easy but on the family search pilot site you can search for each name separately and take a note of the details and perhaps match them up, if both appear with the same page details then you will have found them.

Alternatively if you know which county they came from there are indeed some parish registers transcribed on the same site and you might be lucky in finding them on there.

Hello Meeg,
Just to add a little to what has already been said in response... Civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864. The civil BMDs are currently being put on the pilot FamilySearch site MaryA referred to.

It is true that some BMDs were destroyed by a fire in the Public record Office during the Irish Civil War c.1921. They were mainly from the late 1870s to the mid-1880s. I believe most of the 'missing' original entries have been restored from other sources.

All official Irish censuses were destroyed about 1915. The reason is not known but it is generally accepted it was apparently on the instructions of an 'un-named' Irish government official, and the motive may have been a Nationalist attempt to prevent the British 'occupying power' removing them to London. They could have been considered a valuable asset for the UK Secret Service. The currently available 1901 and 1911 censuses are reconstructions from other sources, including the original enumerators' notes etc.

As has been said earlier, you need to work backwards through the English censuses to work out the decade Catherine arrived in Liverpool, then the where/when the oldest child was born. It is possible she also married in Liverpool.

Dickiesam

The surname McCourt was very common in the northern counties of Ireland principally in Louth, Armagh and Antrim (on both sides of the Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland border). Could Catherine's surname have been Drain rather than Adrian? The surname Drain was located in Antrim. Here is a search facility for the distribution of surnames in Ireland in 1890:-

http://www.ancestryireland.com/database ... _mathesons

Blue

I might have found your marriage in Ireland. There is a marriage in 1841 in County Down for an Owen McCourt and Catherine Drain. If you go to the link below do a basic search then go into marriages for Antrim and Down. On the advanced search page that appears change birth to marriage and enter Owen McCourt. Lower down add Catherine Drain where it says spouse. This should confirm that the record that appears is for Owen McCourt & Catherine Drain. It's a pay-per-view site so you would need to pay to see the full record:-

http://www.ancestryireland.com/database.php

This record can also be purchased using the link below. On this other site the indexes can tell you the Parish by process of elimination. It tells us that this marriage was in the RC Parish of Newry & Mourne. This Parish seems to cover the southern parts of two counties, Armagh and Down. Newry lies on the border between County Armagh and County Down and is probably considered the main centre of this Parish. The McCourts are therefore quite likely to have their roots in the Newry area:-

http://www.rootsireland.ie/


Blue

I think this is the GRO death index reference for Owen McCourt:-

Owen McCourt
Quarter: Jan/Feb/Mar
Year: 1866
Age: 49
District: Liverpool
Volume: 8b
Page: 101


Blue

Here is a baptismal record for my Grandad's aunt, Mary Ann Holland, showing Catherine McCourt as her Godmother. Mary Ann emigrated to USA in 1907:-




Blue